Question

Expert testimony in homicide trials of battered women. Refer to the Duke Journal of Gender Law and Policy (Summer 2003) study of the impact of expert testimony on the outcome of homicide trials involving battered woman syndrome, Exercise 5.3 (p. 264). Recall that multiple regression was employed to model the likelihood of changing a verdict from not guilty to guilty after deliberations, y, as a function of juror gender (male or female) and expert testimony given (yes or no).

(a)   Write a main effects model for E(y) as a function of gender and expert testimony. Interpret the β coefficients in the model.

(b)   Write an interaction model for E(y) as a function of gender and expert testimony. Interpret the β coefficients in the model.

(c) Based on data collected on individual juror votes from past trials, the article reported that ‘‘when expert testimony was present, women jurors were more likely than men to change a verdict from not guilty to guilty after deliberations. ’Assume that when no expert testimony

were present, male jurors being more likely than women to change a verdict from not guilty to guilty after deliberations. Which model, part a or part b, hypothesizes the relationships reported in the article? Illustrate the model with a sketch.

Answer 1